The other day I got an after-hours call from a placement counselor at a detoxification program. They were discharging a client and they had no place to put him. Could we help?
The only problem with this request for help was that the counselor was talking so fast
I could barely understand what he was saying. He sounded like the people at the end of radio commercial disclaimers that talk so fast I can never figure out what the hell they're saying.
Finally, I asked him to slow down, take a breath, and tell me what he wanted and I would see if we could help. So he slowed down and explained what he needed.
Well, as it turned out, the client wasn't appropriate for TLC because he had underlying psychiatric issues that we weren't trained to deal with. So we were unable to help - other than to give him the names of other programs that might be able to assist.
One thing I've learned after being in business for much of my life is that - unless someone's life is in danger or the building's on fire there are very few true emergencies. There are just situations that we label emergencies and we try to speed everything up so we can get done with whatever we're working on.
Part of staying serene and calm is to not get in a big hurry about anything. If we practice this we'll find that our stress level is lower and - surprise! - we get just as much done as if we go full speed.
And with fewer mistakes.
Click here to email John
